Control mechanism for locomotive sanders



1943- e. s. TURNER 2,333,060

CONTROL MECHANISM FOR LOCOMOTIVE SANDERS Filed March 25, 1942 .Qfzwezzf S, Turner Patented 26, 1943 2,333,060; 7 I ff C0NTR0L1ME'CHANISMF0RLOCOMOTIVE S PATENT [o1=1+-1 SANDERS Gui-Herd 8.. Tumor. lierwy ill q assignor to Mor 1 v .B'. Brewster, 00., Illinois Application Mara 25, 1942. se ialNo. 435,134 v Q a I Chicago; Ill.,a corporation of V l 2 o ms; c1. Hie-n4 Theinvention relates tocontrol mechanism for locomotive sanders. M it Inpsanders for locomotives it is desirable to deliver a short' blast of. airrto a nozzle in the trap forclearing the sand-discharge pipe and airto thesand-discharge nozzle in the trap for a s elective period, and to control such delivery by air from an operators valve in the cab of the locomotive,through:a. relay or remote control valve. which is shiftahlebya fluid pressure unit by air, from the ope-ratorfs valve. Constructions are now used inwhichthe relay valve includes acylinde which is, formed asL-an integral part Fig. .3 is a perspective of themounting plate for the fiuidpressure and valve unit.

of the valve-casing for. a piston responsive to: air

i'i'omthe operatoris valve. Parts of the valve separately detachableffromthe mounting plate in the event it. is necessarygto remove either unit for'repair or replacement whilejthe other can remain attached to the mounting plate. In the event of a failure of one unit it is not necessary to replace the entire structure. In'replacement 01' separate unitsyit is only necessarygto remove thepipe connections forf one unit, while those P for the othercan remain connected. This'facili tates the time required in makingflreplacements. I Another object ofthe inventionis'to' provide a mechanism comprising an associated fluid pressure unit and avalve unit in which the connection or leveri orshi-fting the Valve'is exposed so that it can be manually shiftedin the event that thepressure unit becomes inoperative.

. Another object of the invention is to provide control mechanism forsanders; which can be produced andmaintainedat a low cost. f Other objects ofthe'inv ention will appear from the detailed description i The invention consists in the several novel features hereinafter set forth and more particularly defined by claims at the conclusion hereof.

In the drawing:

Fig; 1 is a vertical section of the control mechanismembodyingthe invention/l Fig. 2 is a plan.

.Fig; 4 isxatperspective of the body of the fluid pressure unit. @1' v i Fig. 5.is a perspective of thevalve-unita 2.

- The invention is; exemplified .ina mechanism whichrcomprises mounting plate awhich is adapted to fit against the wall or. any suitable v 'part ,of a locomotiveand is provided with a pair of holes a forscrews; 8; whereby the mounting plate may be secured; to thejlocomotive, The

mounting plate has a pair of tapped holes'a arranged laterallyoi each other in which are secured studs 9 'for vmounting :a valve unit o on the mounting plate; The mounting plate also has-a pair of'tappedholes a, one above the other and verticall-yialigneri with oneof the. holes a inwhich studs! flare secured for mounting pressure unit don the plate a. I w .The valve unit 0 comprises a body H, which is provided in its lower end with an inlet chamber .IIZto which pipe it is'conneoted for delivering ainunderpressure, from'a reservoir to the casing l urixoutletphamber; I4 which is connectedto aipipe iiiwwhichdelivers air'to the sand-delivery nozzle of the sand-trap; and a chamber l6 whichis connected by'a pipel 1' to deliver a blast to the. clean-out nozzle of h s dr r pe hich mayihe of the type illustrated; in Patent No. 2,259,593, dated October 21;, 1941. ..A.valve.-.mem

ber'i8; is sljidably mounted and guided inrthe in.-

let: chamber 12 and is adapted to be held closed againsta seat l9 by a spring 29 which is interposedbetween: the valve and a screw cap I l A valvermemherfl his slidably mounted in the chamber jlty'and has a downwardly .extending ste'm Zt'for en a in and pe n a ve member I8 and an upwardly extending stem 23 which ig guidedcina head .24., which is screw-threaded into the .upper'end of casing H, Valve-member 2! is normallypositioned ahoye theport leading to cleaneout" pipe ii sothat during itsinitial .descendingxmovement, ,air will pass from inlet chamber-Q l2 around valve-member 18' to the clean-out pipelluntil upon;further downward movement it closes. the outletfrom chamber; 16 to pipe [.7 while air continues to pass to the pipe lfiior thesand-discharge nozzle. The body I] has integrally .formed therewith a rearwardly extending wehl 25. and laterally extending ears 21. The back face. of the" ears fits against the mounting plate. Ears 2'! are provided with holes 28, for the studs fi, and nuts'29 onsaid studs are adapted to removably secure the valve-unit:=crto the mounting platea; The body H valye'ime'me 3|, closes the lower end of the cylinder.

bers l8 and 2! and the upwardly projecting stem 23 constitute a unit which is adapted to be readily attached and detached from the mounting plate independently of the device or unit for shifting the valve members.

' .The fluid-pressure unit d comprises a body 30 32 is-provided with a stem 35 whichextends through the top of body 30. A rocker lever 36 is fulcrumed on a pin 31 which extends through and is supported in ears 33 which are integral with and extend upwardly from the top ofbody The invention exemplifies control mechanism for sanders in which the valve-unit and the fluid pressure unit are separately removable from the mounting plate for individual replacement of the units. The valve shifting lever 33 is outside of the valve-casing and the body of the fluid pressure unit for access and manual operation in the .event that the fluid pressure unit fails to operate.

The separate units can be readily fabricated at a low cost and in'the event of replacement it is not necessary to replace both units unless they have both become ineffective.

A further advantage in providing separate fluid pressure and valve units is that it is not necessary to disconnect the pipe connections from 1 both units when'it is only necessary to remove 30. One end of the lever 36 is loosely connected by a pin 39 to the upper end of piston stem 35. The opposite end '40 of the lever is adapted to abut against theupper end of the stem 23 to shift the valve-members 2|, le'when air under pressure is delivered into the lower end of cylinder 3| and piston 32 is shifted. The body 30 of 'the fluid pressure unit c is provided with a rearwardly extending integral bracket 42, the back face of which is adapted to fit against the mounting plate a.- Bracket 42 is provided with holes 4| for'the mounting-studs l0 in the mounting plate a so that the unit 11 can be detachably secured to the mounting plate bynuts 43. The body 30, withits'bracket 42 and the cy1in-' der,'piston-stern and lever associated therewith, constitute a unit" which can be readily attached and detached from the mounting plate a sepa rately from the valve unit. The units are located side by side and the nuts for securingthem to the'mounti'ng plate are accessible from the front.

The operation will be as'follows: When the rails are to be sanded the engineer will shift the operators valve in the cab to supply air under pressure through pipe 34 into the lower end of 7 cylinder 3|. Piston 32 will be raised and rock lever .36to slide the valve stem 23 downwardly. The lower stem 22 will initially open valve l8 so that air from pipe l3 will flow into the valvecasing ll. Air will flow also through pipe tothe sand-discharge nozzle and through pipe ll to the clean-out blast until valve-member 2| engages'its seat'2-I in the valve-casing when the further supply of air to the clean-out nozzle will'b'e cut off. At the end of the sanding opera-v tion the engineer will cut off the supply of air through pipe 34 and spring will close valvemember 18 to cut off air from pipe l3 and shift stems 22, 23 and valve-member 2| upwardly. Stem 23will rock lever 36 and thelatter will restore the piston to its lowered position in cylin- In the event that a repair or replacement is necessary of the fluid pressure unit at it can be separately removed from the mounting plate a by removal of the nuts43 which secure said unit tothe mounting plate while the valve unit 0 remains attached to said plate. In the event,

-can attach a string or wire to the lever 36 by means of a hole 3% in the lever and by looping the wire or cord underthe web 26 which extends rearwardly'from the valve-casing II. The engineer can'then operate thelever 3B manually to shift the stem 23 by a pull on the wire or cord.

or replace one of the units.

The invention is not to be understood as restricted to the details set forth since these may arable from the mounting plate and comprising a casing having a pair of lugs having holes dis- 7 posed laterally of each other, integral with, and

at back of and spaced from the upper portion of the casing and fitting against the upper portion of the mounting plate, and valve means in the casing for controlling the flow of air from the'casing to clean-outandsand-discharge connections, provided with a stem projecting from the top of the casing, 'a fiuid pressure unit comprising a body separately formed and disposed at one side of the, casing, a piston-stem projecting upwardly from the body, 2. lug integral with and projecting from the back and laterally to the other side of the body and provided with a'pair of vertically spaced holes, an upwardly projecting earon the top of the body, andla rocker lever pivotally supported by said ear, operatively'cone nected at one of its ends tothe piston-stem and having its other end in abutting engagement with the stem on the valve' means, the units being positioned on the mounting plate so the stems are movable on parallel axes, and means for separately and removably securing thelugs on the valve-casing and the lugs on the body to the mounting plate.

2. In control mechanism for sanders the combination of a mounting plate provided with apair .of holes disposed laterally of one another in its lower portions for bolts whereby the plate may be secured to alocomotive, a valve unit separable from the mounting plate and comprising a casing having a pair of lugs having holes disposed laterally of each other,.integral with, and. at back of and spaced from the upper portion of thecasing and fitting against the upper portion of the mounting plate, and valve meansin the casing for controlling the flow of air from the casing to clean-out and sand-discharge connections, pro- .vided. with a stem projecting from the top of the casing, a fluid pressure unit comprising a body separately formed and disposed at one side of the casing, a piston-stem projecting upwardly from the body, a lug integral with and projecting from the back and laterally to the outer side of the body and provided with a pair of vertically spaced holes, an upwardly projecting ear on the top of the body, and a rocker lever pivotally supported by said ear, operatively connected at one of its ends to the piston-stem and having its other end in abutting engagement with the stem on the valve means, the units being positioned on the mounting plate so the stems are movable on parallel axes, pairs of'studs on the mounting plate extending through the holes in the lugs on the valve casingand the holes in the lug on said body, respectively, and nuts for separately and v removably securing the valve casing on one pair of said studs and the lug on the body to the other pair of studs.

GUILFORD S. TURNER. 

